Interview with Ryan Reynolds
From Staci Wilson
About.com
on: "The Amityville Horror" remake

Ryan Reynolds talks about horror movies, and playing George Lutz in the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror. 

Staci Layne Wilson: The Amityville Horror has been made, remade, sequelitis… and there’s even been the Amityville Dollhouse. 
RR: I have seen none of them. 

SLW: I do think it’s definitely time for a remake, and as far as sheer horror and production value go, this one is the best of the lot. 
RR: You really couldn’t tell the same story 30 years ago, and I think this really is a different ballgame. With a wide array of technological advances they are able to show the story in a whole new light. The fact that it’s based on a true story, for me, was a huge selling point. 

SLW: There are a lot more scares in this one and it’s really updated to what audiences expect these days. 
RR: Yeah, audiences what to jump out of their frigging skins! That’s the name of the game in a movie like this. 
We didn’t want to go for creepy — we wanted to go for terrifying and I think that that’s something we were able to achieve. The story itself is just a terrifying story, so being able to tell it nowadays with this kind of lighting, this kind of camera work, and special effects, is a treat. 

SLW: Playing a real person, especially one who is still alive, must have given you some pause. What was your approach? 
RR: That’s complicated. I was more vigilant about giving the script justice, than I was George Lutz. I have never met him, and I have no desire to meet him. This wasn’t a biography, so I just felt like I really wanted to Scott Kossar’s script justice. 

But yeah, it is a little unnerving knowing that you’re playing someone who has a very famous name and who’s going to be dealing maybe with the repercussions of a movie like this. You obviously don’t want to let anyone down, but at the same time you have to portray him as maybe not the most approachably warm person. 

SLW: [laughs] He’s not exactly the human teddy bear in this, is he? 
RR: No, but I stand by my character. I feel like everything he did in the movie, he was able to justify for himself. 

SLW: You did a great job with the descent into madness, and you had some help with the creepy contact lenses — I hope those were contacts! 
RR: Yeah, yeah [they were]. Sometimes we couldn’t get them in, so they would just rub crap in my eyes and make them red. 

SLW: What are some of your favorite ghost or horror movies? 
RR: Well, my favorite book was actually The Amityville Horror. I read it when I was 16 and it made such a huge impression on me. In terms of films, definitely The Exorcist and Poltergeist are two movies that will forever resonate and that triggered me on some kind of a huge level. They were very scary. 

SLW: What is it with you and dogs? You had a run-in with one in Van Wilder; you shot one (albeit a vampiric one) in Blade: Trinity, and now there’s this incident with the family pooch in The Amityville Horror. Is PeTA after you yet? 
RR: [laughs] That is the best question, ever! PeTA should be after me. But no, I love animals. I love all kinds of animals, and I have two dogs. I guess I’m lucky my dogs don’t know the kinds of movies I’m making, or they’d run when they see me!